SMS
The channel that never misses. No app, no download required.
Why it matters
SMS reaches every phone in the country, on any network, on any device. No smartphone required. No Wi-Fi required. With a 98% open rate, it's read faster and more reliably than almost any other channel your charity has access to. When something has to land, SMS is the channel that gets it there.
Reach that nothing else matches
SMS doesn't rely on an app, a data connection, or a particular type of phone. If a supporter can receive a text at all, this reaches them, making it the one channel every person in your database can be sent through.
- Works without a smartphone, an app, or a data connection
- Reaches supporters who RCS, WhatsApp, and email can't
- The right choice whenever a message simply has to arrive
Built for speed
A new SMS campaign doesn't need a developer, a design brief, or a week of lead time. From writing the message to sending it, the whole thing can happen inside a single afternoon.
- Send broadcast messages to your full supporter base in seconds
- Trigger automatic journeys based on donor actions or dates
- Connect your CRM or website directly via API, or send through Cymba Connect
More ways to use it than you'd think
Fundraising appeals sit alongside reminders for mass event participants, requests to collect a supporter's address, petitions and activism campaigns, and prompts for existing donors to add Gift Aid, each landing through the same channel.
- Collects supporter addresses and details a call centre would otherwise chase by phone
- Reaches thousands of event participants with the same reliable, one-off message
- Runs petition, activism, and Gift Aid broadcast campaigns just as easily as a fundraising appeal
Built for two-way engagement, not just broadcast
A one-off gift doesn't need a second campaign to become a regular one. The same thank-you that confirms the donation can invite a supporter to go further, whether that's a regular text gift or a move onto Direct Debit, and replying costs them nothing extra.
- Handles opt-outs and consent automatically, keeping you compliant
- One reply, like BEGIN, is all it takes to start a regular gift, no forms, no calls
- Supporters get a text every month with the option to skip or stop, keeping full control over their giving
Adaptive SMS, lower cost per acquisition
Around half of the people were opting out of ActionAid UK's fundraising calls, but the charity still needed their postal address to send a thank-you item.
Cymba built a bespoke SMS flow that automatically triggered when someone opted out of a call, capturing postal details via text instead. It eliminated the calling agency's cost and reduced the charity's cost per acquisition across its campaigns.
"Cymba's solution has helped reduce our campaign costs massively and subsequently had a positive impact on the ROI for this campaign," says Vicky Hayles, Acquisition Campaign Specialist at ActionAid UK
